Nova Wolves
The Nova Wolves were initially a band of mercenaries who predominantly traveled the Western Reaches. While they generally accepted jobs for corporate and criminal organizations, the Wolves refuse to work for the Empire at all after their original leader, Gideon Kelos, was framed and imprisoned as a Rebel sympathizer in 4 BBY. Following the merger with Sei Taria, the Nova Wolves became a splinter cell of the Antrixian Resistance. History The Nova Wolves were formed by Colonel Gideon Kelos approximately 5 years after the end of the Clone Wars. Gideon, a former commander in the Republic military, envisioned the Wolves as a peacekeeping force for hire. Pulling together several former military acquaintances, Kelos and his partners recruited a force of approximately 2 platoons of mercenaries for his organization. With the Galactic Empire squashing insurrections and rebellions throughout the known galaxy, Kelos put the Wolves to work, contracting with various corporate entities to provide military strength security to high profile targets and resources. By forming a legal and loyal reputation, Kelos kept his group from coming under attack by the Empire. Many of his corporate contacts gave the Imperials raving reviews on how well the Nova Wolves protected the financial interests of the Empire while ensuring that the important corporate and political citizens were also secured. For 10 years, the Nova Wolves operated with a high degree of success, remaining somewhat more aligned with the Galactic Empire rather than any other galactic faction. In 4 BBY, the Wolves encountered an upstart pirate from the Gallenti Brethren. Anjelica Teech, who had broke away from her pirate lord father attempted to attack a Wolves transport as it left the planet Llanic after investigating possible rebel activity for a local Imperial official. Teech and Kelos’ crew exchanged fire back and forth, repelling boarding actions from each other repeatedly over a two day period. Finally, Gideon called for a truce for both sides to discuss the situation. Kelos sat down in an airlock with Teech, discussing the situation and realizing that the young girl was trying to prove herself while making credits in the process. Knowing that the Wolves could use her ship in their missions, Kelos offered Anjelica a lucrative offer of joining the Wolves. The addition of Teech’s forces and ship, The Astral Lance, gave the Nova Wolves an increased size to their unit operations. Able to accomplish more and contract for larger, more lucrative jobs, Kelos began to accept escort contracts and recon missions. By this time, the Nova wolves were working as a sizable force, almost as large as some backwater defense forces. The acquisition of 2 CR90 Corvettes and a Corellian Gunship and 12 Z-95 Headhunters made the Wolves a serious contender in the merc world. However, the addition of Teech did not sit well with some of the founding members of the Wolves. Maddox Quintos, the executive officer of the Nova Wolves, butted heads with Kelos and Teech. Quintos began to formulate a plan to betray Kelos and take over the Wolves for himself. In 4 BBY, while Kelos traveled to Corellia to finalize a contract with Corellian Engineering Corporation, Quintos found out that a group of Rebel were also meeting there. Quintos found his time to strike. Notifying Imperials that Kelos was on Corellia and was taking part in the meeting without the knowledge of the Wolves, Quintos helped frame Kelos as a Rebel sympathizer. Unfortunately, Jaris Olis, a close friend to Kelos, overheard Quintos’ plan after he had informed the Empire. Olis attempted to rally the Wolves in support of Kelos, but was only able to sway Teech’s crew and the crew of Darrius McQuade’s Ryshue Star. Together, both ships and crews attempted to halt Quintos’ takeover, to were thwarted. In the end, Teech and McQuade, limped their damaged vessels off to a safe port while Quintos took the rest of the Wolves and merged them into the Aurodium Sword mercenary group. Teech went on, with Olis and McQuade’s prodding, to keep the Nova Wolves going, as Kelos would have wanted. Taking some time to reorganize and train, the Nova Wolves debuted as a newer, leaner group, which began to focus on contracts and actions which began to tarnish their name with the Empire. The Wolves, while not desiring to commit fully to the Rebellion, willingly assisted with black ops and decoy actions for the budding Alliance from time to time. New Alliances Teech was contacted by the former aide to Chancellor Valorum, Sei Taria, who had recently come out of hiding. Taria wanted to help fund the Wolves, along with assisting in developing them into a formidable force. Taria's only condition was that the Wolves take on a noble from the Antrixian Commonwealth as a figurehead leader. What neither Taria, Teech, or McQuade banked on was that they would elect to allow Allyson Strykia to assume command and become more than a figurehead. Strykia was brash and strong-willed from the beginning, surprising the Nova Wolves with her grasp on taking the fight to the enemy. Allyson proved to be strong, brave, and smart when it came to helping run the Wolves. She earned respect from quite a few early on, but those that challenged her soon found that she would get their respect either through her stubborn, strong presence or through her physical abilities. By the end of 2 BBY, the Nova Wolves were once again growing, both in size and strength and in reputation. Three CR90 Corvettes and two Corellian Gunships added speed and firepower to the Wolves, allowing them to become a serious threat to anything smaller than the mighty warship squadrons of the Empire. With their added ships and crews, Strykia began driving harder against the Empire, hitting larger convoys and bigger targets. The announced demise of Draygan Strykia only drove Allyson harder and the Wolves followed her. Unbeknownst to Allyson, her uncle, Edric Strykia, sent two additional ships to assist the Wolves in the form of Antrixian Jen'dar Frigates. The captains of the ships joined up with Allyson's small force, giving the Lady Strykia the first backing from her native people, in her on-going campaign against the Empire. Nova Wolves Forces The Nova Wolves were primarily a naval force, capable of strike and defense capabilities. While primarily suited for operations detailing space and orbital combat, the Nova Wolves did possess sufficient forces for boarding operations and surface raids. By 0 BBY, the Nova Wolves had bolstered their numbers by being augmented by ships from the Antrixian Resistance. These included: *The Freedom - A Sol'voc-class Star Destroyer, acting as the command ship for the Nova Wolves. *The Astral Lance - A Hammerhead-class cruiser, former command ship of the mercenaries. *The Ryshue Star - A modified Consular-class frigate, commanded by Darius McQuade. *The Squire - A CEC DP20 Corellian Gunship. *The Starflare - A CEC CR90 Corellian Corvette. *The Black Swan - A Midlorian Cruiser. *The Anla'Sai - A Midlorian Cruiser. *The Endurance - A Pergar Hammer-class Cruiser. *The Mohaim - A Jen'dar Frigate. *(2) Ar'mar Patrol Frigates. *Various Starfighters. *Various Shuttles and support vessels. The Nova Wolves and the Shadow Wolves would begin to merge together around the end of 0 BBY when they began working from the Carrick-class space station that would become known as the Wolf Den to some of their numbers. While the station was divided between the forces of the Allyson and Graydon Strykia, it was also used by a portion of the Nihtrad Syndicate until the death of Bartok Ramesh Shierabb. Category:Factions